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We are thrilled to announce that our fearless leader, Joseph Anthony, has been featured in this week’s Portrait section in Adweek. Please checkout how the Hero Group is engineering purpose into some of our clients campaigns.

Beyond Marketing Group is exactly what their name implies. Through attention-grabbing experiential campaigns living in the physical space, combined with innovative social tie-ins, BMGis at the forefront of “phygital marketing.” Over the past decade, BMG has produced groundbreaking video content and brilliant marketing initiatives for Fortune 500 clients including Toyota, Harley-Davidson and Nike.

In October 2016, BMGlaunched a new original series on NBC Sports Network, “Motorclub.”

“BMG joined Hero Collective because we firmly believe the sum is greater than its parts,” said Beyond Marketing CEO and Co-Founder, Matt Costa.

In joining Hero Collective, Beyondis now part of a first-of-its kind network of boutique agencies, ready to take on the established agency model.

Said Costa, “As a mid-level agency, HERO Collective provides BMG and its respective clients with the capabilities and scale to compete with the larger conglomerate agencies. The agency model has changed and the HERO Collective is the future of the agency model. They have amassed a group of agencies that are experts in their given fields that know ‘a lot about a little’ and work together as one cohesive group.“

Proper Villains, a boutique agency focused on luxury, lifestyle, and craft brands, becomes the latest agency to join the Hero Collective. As a creative digital agency, Proper Villains’ commitment to excellence is matched only by their obsession with media and data analytics. Through campaigns led by data-driven insights, Proper Villains has been able to bring a level of perfection that even the biggest agencies can’t replicate. Previous clients include sound pioneers Bang & Olufsen and iconic fashion designer Vera Wang.

Led by CEO Michael Jacobs, who was leading the industry in understanding e-commerce before the term was even coined, is joined by managing partners who are best in class at the intersection of design and technology.

Said Proper Villains CEO Michael Jacobs, “I joined Hero Collective because the old agency model just doesn’t work – for my clients, for me, or for my team. In this day and age of Internet speed, reach and demand, teams need to be dynamic and efficient. But sometimes deeper resources are also critical. Hero Collective offers the best of all worlds – the chance to work in nimble teams doing cutting-edge work, but still collaborate with a larger set of talents that can expand our capabilities.”

The current agency model is outdated and broken. Hero Collective was founded on the basis that big agencies don’t have a monopoly on big ideas. By building a global network of small agencies, we can tap into the energy and innovation that drives small business. Watch the video below and get ready for the agency model of the future.

“For smaller boutique agencies, it can be difficult to grab the attention of bigger brands and get to work with the likes of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Hero Group, a small New York shop, wanted to find a way to help itself and others its size score big clients, so it formed the Hero Collective, a carefully selected group of agencies from different disciplines.

‘We think the agency model of the future is a collection of small ones who have varied skill sets that can work collaboratively without necessarily adhering to some of the bureaucracy that governs quarterly economic earning targets that somewhat stifle creativity and objectivity when it comes to bringing the best ideas forward,’ Hero Group CEO Joseph Anthony said.”

Wemersive is a full service VR technology company with offices in Los Angeles, Toronto and Amsterdam.

Wemersive’s skill and knowledge of mobile application development is unmatched in the 360° video arena. Wemersive’s team of award winning mobile developers have a strong track record in building some of the most successful apps to date for an array of brands & agencies around the world including Absolut Vodka, R&R Partners, Coca Cola, MSNBC and many others!

Wemersive’s team has an extensive background in working in and alongside some of the world’s top ad agencies. Whether creating 360°content or incorporating 360° footage into broadcast or film, they have the knowledge and experience to help guide and build amazing VR content.

The consumer experience is rapidly changing, as users demand faster service with minimal steps in between. Everything is becoming simplified, from hailing a taxi to paying at Dunkin Donuts, so it’s not surprising that the rise of Virtual Reality is hitting industries in interesting ways.

One of the few products that consumers truly need to get their hands on and see in person are automobiles. There is nothing that can replace walking around a dealership, but what if you could replicate that experience without a used car salesman?

That’s what online car sales startup Vroom is doing with a series of pop-up VR showrooms across the country. As most potential customers don’t have an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive at home, Vroom is opening up a series of demo stations that allow users to virtually walk around a car lot, view specs including real-time price and availability, and even go on a virtual test drive. Once “inside” the car, a simulated test drive is accomplished by superimposing pre-recorded video and audio on the windows, similar to a “green screen” effect.

Online brands like Vroom are entirely dependent on evolutions in technology to improve the consumer’s journey. Depending on the product, the added convenience of being “online only” is offset by a lack of precision.

Consumers keep finding ways around this dilemma, mostly to the detriment of brick and retail stores. Amazon customers, for example, might not feel comfortable making a final purchasing decision without seeing a product in person. Thanks to the lower-price provided by being an online retailers, millions are using Best Buy and Target as showrooms to try out products before making their final purchase on a competitor’s website.

But what if there were a way around this “Showroom Effect”? What Vroom is going with virtual reality is attempt to take away the only middle-man left. When an online retailer can own the customer journey from beginning, middle, and end, they have effectively closed the loop, rendering brick and mortar competitors irrelevant.

There is always an easier and faster way of doing things. Calling a restaurant over the phone to order delivery evolved into online ordering on individual websites. Seizing this opportunity to deliver a unified interface, Seamless and Grubhub launched, which now looks complicated compared to the ease of ordering a pizza by texting an emoji.

Even if shopping in virtual reality is not a game-changer for the automotive industry, this won’t be the last time that the role of brick and mortar retailers will be threatened by advances and innovations in consumer shopping.

Just south of the Nicaraguan capital city of Managua stands Masaya Volcano. A 16th century Spaniard described the gaping hole and lava lake below “The Mouth of Hell.” With over a million people living within 15 miles of the volcano, there is always a very real worry over a massive eruption. But what if the citizens of Managua knew that an eruption was coming? How many lives can be saved if volcanoes are connected “the grid”? Masaya might not be the world’s biggest volcano, but it may soon become the world’s most technologically advanced.

A team led by explorer and filmmaker Sam Cossman is working to bring Masaya online by installing close to 100 Wi-Fi connected sensors around and inside of the crater itself. These sensors would compile gravity, atmospheric, and gas measurements in order to develop a clearer picture of its hydrothermal system and maybe even predict when the next eruption could take place. These sensors will connect to an open-source network called Predix run by General Electric, allowing scientists and the public alike to peruse the data and use for their own research.

Said resident volcanologist Dr. Guillermo Caravantes in a video posted on GE’s Facebook page, “Like doctors, we would be able to monitor the vital signs of the volcano in real time.”

Once all sensors are online, people around the world will have access to the data. This crowdsourcing of data may lead to new scientific conclusions and certainly recommendations to the Nicaraguan government on how to preserve Masaya while protecting its citizens from a sudden volcanic eruption.

More importantly, if this online detection system is proven to work in Nicaragua, the team’s long term goal would be to put more and more volcanoes online. In the future, it’s not inconceivable to believe that most of Earth’s major volcanoes would connected to such a network.

New York city officials just approved plans for “The Lowline” – the world’s first underground park. Founded by James Ramsey and Dan Barasch, The Lowline will use advanced solar technology and special mirrors to beam in sunlight. Trees, plants, and flowers will all grow naturally, and the entire underground site will use no electricity during the day.

The proposed location in Manhattan’s Lower East Side is inside an abandoned trolley station which has been closed since 1948. The Underground Oasis and Green Tech has one year to secure funding, reportedly at least 10 million dollars. If all goes well, The Lowline will be open to the public by 2020.